"Don't judge someone unless you've walked a mile in their shoes" might be an appropriate motto for the white privilege movement. It was established to sensitize Caucasians to what life is like for people of color, and to help us realize that our "whiteness" automatically grants us privileges at birth not enjoyed by those of other hues.
There is not room enough on this page to catalog all of the hateful and harmful things done to people of color over the years, from slavery to Jim Crow laws; to medical experiments without patient permission; to red-lining neighborhoods; to segregated and under-funded schools; to job discrimination; to the statistically proven fact that a traffic officer is more likely to pull over a person of color; to juries sending a disproportionate number of blacks to death row. There is also the ugly spate of police brutality and killings that gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement whose very demonization by conservative media is more proof of white privilege.
The hit movie "Hidden Figures" does an excellent job in capturing the harsh realities that talented black women had to face working for NASA in the 1960s in nearby Virginia. Their lives included segregated bathrooms and coffee pots, and painfully slow paths to promotion.
All of the above happened to people simply because of the color of their skin. They didn't happen to us or our ancestors because we're white, though some nationalities surely have tales of prejudice to share. The sad thing is that much of this is not ancient history. We needn't go back to the slave-owning founding fathers. Residents of a certain age remember segregated movie theaters; Westminster's Robert Moton school for blacks where students were burdened with second-hand books and long bus rides for those from the southern end of the county; and Klan rallies in Gamber. In my small South Jersey town, I recall the authorities' decision to close the community pool rather than allow black kids from the neighboring area to swim with us. To this day, the pool is filled with concrete — a sad but powerful testimony to what whites were once willing to do in a warped effort to protect their privilege.
That's what the white privilege movement is all about — awakening whites to the special lives we've been granted because of our skin's pigment, and reminding us that a tribal racial prejudice still festers in our society in many insidious ways. I have a conservative friend who is fond of saying, "Blacks have to get over all of this and move on. After all, we elected a black president, didn't we?" Yes, we did, and history will judge harshly those congressional leaders who did everything they could from day one to hamper and restrain him. If you doubt this, just look at the prideful smirks on the faces of Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan as they dismantle Barack Obama's legacy.
Why do some get so vexed about the white privilege movement? One reason is that it brings along with it a sense of unease and guilt, even though many painful events happened long before we were alive. When I wrote in my Columbus Day column that this hallowed explorer had introduced slavery to America, I received reader criticism for trying to make whites feel guilty.
Some faultfinders simply show a lack of empathy for others. This may indicate that they subscribe to the Objectivist philosophy, a belief system embraced by many arch-conservatives that eschews compassion in favor of the pursuit of one's own happiness. This is, of course, antithetical to Christian social teaching.
Opposition to a discussion of white privilege is also fed by a culture of resentment regarding perceived injustices in the social order, including affirmative action policies. Too, critics often introduce the red herring of forgotten poor whites in an effort to deflect the discussion away from the unassailable truths of its core topic.
None of this means that whites haven't worked hard to achieve what they own. Sure we have, but our skin color gave our parents and grandparents a sure edge above other hued people as they all joined in the quest for a piece of the American dream. To deny this is to deny history.
Discussing the impact of white privilege is not anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-capitalist or racist, and it carries zero resonance with totalitarian societies. It is time to stop the fear mongering, honestly own up to our checkered past, and make the most of another of life's teachable moments.
Frank Batavick writes from Westminster. His column appears Fridays. Email him at fjbatavick@gmail.com.
